


The Gift: Legacy

by millertime1985



Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: F/F, F/M, Grace Callen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:54:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24459316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/millertime1985/pseuds/millertime1985
Summary: The continuing adventures of Mike Renko & Grace Callan
Relationships: Eric Beale/Nell Jones, G Callen/Original Female Character(s), Sydney Jones/Mike Renko





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the start of my new story. It won't be a super long story... but I don't want to rush to complete it, i want to do these characters justice

#1

“… wounds across most of her body. Signs of more than a dozen fractures that have never properly healed. I don’t know what your interest in her may be… but I’d say the damage is more than just physical.”

“Is there any sign of medical intervention?”

Doctor smith glanced down at the report in the folder, scanning it.

“No. There are a few… worrying scars on her left forearm. But nothing that suggests…”

Before the doctor could reply Mike interrupted with another question

“Is there any sign of treatment for breast cancer?”

The doctor steadied himself. This was the part of the job he hated. Telling a patients loved ones that they were terminal

“I’m afraid not. At least nothing that’s immediately apparent. but I’m not an oncologist… I would strongly suggest you seek a second opinion”

“I’m truly sorry” he added as he slinked out of the observation room

………………………………….

**3 Years Ago**

“Have her taken back to LA. I want Rose to do the autopsy” Mike said, almost robotically.

He had spent the last few hours liaising with local PD and Hetty had just arrived.

  
He didn’t even know how he was going to break the news to Sydney and Jake, never mind Vic… she hadn’t made it home yet. So had no idea what had happened to Grace.

“Mr Renko… I know this is not an easy situation. I need you to return to Los Angeles immediately. Your new SAC will be wanting to debrief you”

“You don’t get it Hetty… I was outside when this happened. If I had got here a minute earlier, Grace…. She would still be alive. G… he was here. He needs to know…”

“Mr Renko. Please focus. I will deal with Mr Callen, Ms Schwartz will receive Ms Callen’s…“ Hetty briefly paused, struggling to say the words. “…Grace’s body” she finished, having had to take a big gulp before finishing

Mike looked so lost, regretting doing what Grace had asked, regretting letting her come home when she was finished in LA

“Michael. I will stay with her. She’ll not be alone”

………………………………….

Mike stumbled into the motel room. Having not paid enough attention to where he was going. He had been wondering how to explain things, and in all honesty he still had no idea how he could explain to Syd what had happened to her niece. It was just as he closed the door that he came up with a plan.

“Babe? Sorry, but Hetty needs me back in Los Angeles. New SAC… new case. Besides, Grace isn’t here… disappeared with her… em, well…” Mike tried to find the words to explain, but not reveal anything about Grace’s life that she hadn’t wanted her aunt to know “partner” he finally finished, having settled on the term.

“But she only got back a few days ago… surely she could make time for us. We are family after all”

“She’s already left. Found out third hand from her boss. She’ll check in when she gets home”

Better to tell a lie now, and pay for it later

………………………………….

After Mike and Syd got back to Los Angeles, Mike had dropped Syd and Jake off and he had gone straight to the Morgue. There was nowhere else he felt he should be. Hetty had said he should report to OSP to await debriefing by his new SAC. He couldn’t do it… he had never been a boy scout, and was in just as much trouble with the higher ups within the agency as Callen had.

Rose hadn’t been there when he arrived. So he relegated himself to sitting outside the examination room, but after an hour or so he decided to wait inside, rather than out where the other morgue staff were frequenting themselves. He could see the looks from them… could see the questions they wanted to ask. Why would he wait in a morgue over a weekend if he had any choice. That wasn’t correct though, was it. He had choices… he didn’t have to wait there. He could have gone back to OSP and try and distract himself with the piles of paperwork that would no doubt had been building up on his desk for the last few weeks. He could have gone to the bar. But no matter where he could go, he knew there would be questions… questions he didn’t know how to answer… or maybe, he just didn’t **_want_** to answer them.

When he would think back to his actions that night, he couldn’t explain why he did what he did… but at the time it felt like the only thing he was capable of… he wasn’t proud of it, but he simply had to hit something. He hadn’t had any intention of letting things go as far as they did… he hadn’t had the intention to singlehandedly destroy the room.

………………………………….

“Is it true, is Grace dead?” Kensi asked having rushed down the stairs from OPS, followed by Sam and Deeks “What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Kens” Mike replied, sounding incredibly hostile, never raising his vision from the laptop on his desk

“Don’t give me that. Davis just briefed us. You were there. WHAT happened?” Kensi was very worked up, to the point that Deeks was trying to pull her back and steady her.

Mike knew that Grace meant almost as much to Kensi… to the rest of the team, as she had meant to him. But he couldn’t bring himself to talk about what had happened… he hadn’t even been able to tell Sydney, and she was Grace’s flesh and blood.

“What happened?” Sam asked, appearing to be in far more control of his emotions than Kensi

“Nothing more I can tell you than Davis already told you” Mike answered, sounding so cold, and unaffected by recent events, that it made Kensi’s blood boil

“Don’t you FUCKING Care! She was family… and you just take the hit, and don’t let it bother you. She was a daughter to you… to us all”

“WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY…What am I meant to do, huh. What can I say or do that’ll change **anything**?” Mike started shouting angrilly, having stood up from his seat and swiped his arm over the files and laptop sending them flying “Is that what you want me to say, Kens…. Huh” Mike continued “You want me to tell you how I was too late, All I could do was hold her and watch the light fade in her eyes. Feel her blood pour from her body. Is **THAT** what you want to hear, huh” He finished before purposefully striding out of the bullpen

………………………………….

** 1 Week Later **

Mike hadn’t returned to OSP after storming out. He had ignored all calls from Sam and Kensi, had ignored indirect and direct orders to return to OSP for debrief by the new SAC. Sam had called round to Mike’s place every day, but he wasn’t there…

Sydney had gotten worried, since Mike hadn’t been answering her calls and messages, and hadn’t been home since they got back from visiting Grace. She hadn’t any idea what had happened until Kensi called round to offer her sympathies… She was quite simply devastated, it wasn’t just finding out that her only niece was dead, it was that her boyfriend of more than 4 years had lied to her about why they had to come home on such short notice. Sydney now was left with the unenviable job of telling her sister that her only daughter was dead, not to mention telling her mom or Grace’s half brother that she was gone… to say nothing of being left to make funeral arrangements alone.

Mike had almost vanished off the face of the earth, in the end he had retired to a place no one would think to look… Callen’s old house. Mike knew he hadn’t handled things all that well.. but he couldn’t face looking Syd in the eyes and try and explain that he was the reason her niece was dead. Mike had felt that Grace was the daughter he never had, for a long time. He had watched out for her since she was small


	2. Chapter 2

#2

“…and Mr Renko?”

“He wasn’t there” Kensi replied coldly

“Ms Blye… I know this has been a deeply upsetting matter… for us all. However I believe your focus needs to be on the job. I’ll deal with Mr Renko from here on out”

………………………………….

“What about Mike?”

“He did not attend. I have the matter under control… please, focus on your mission. She needs to be free of the FBI… Once you have her, I’ll have her relocated, clean identity. You have my word”

“I know… this is what I signed up for. Just… please, watch out for him and dad”

………………………………….

Mike had been drinking himself into one hell of a state. He wasn’t even bothering to bin the empty beer, whiskey, and vodka bottles anymore… they were just left wherever Mike was , when he emptied them

He had been managing to sneak out late at night, pop into the local convenience store and made back to the house … mostly without anyone noticing. He had stuck to using cash… leaving no digital trace to his whereabouts. But it was never the digital trace that was the issue for him.

He had lost track of what day it was, how long it had been since he had found grace’s body, how long it had been since he ran away to hide.

  
One night, he only knew it was night because it hadn’t long gotten dark, he was heavily drunk… more drunk that he had ever been before. But the last few weeks had been one long bender…. He had blacked out and when he woke from someone kicking him he didn’t know what he was seeing. Just how drunk had he been. He had to be imagining this

“Come on Buddy… lets get you up”

Mike swiped his hand in the direction of what he thought he was imagining, and when his hand hit the persons leg he was shocked. He had to be imagining it… he couldn’t really be here

“G…?”

………………………………….

Hetty had been sat by the bed for several hours. She never relished days like this… finding one of her people in a hospital bed. Any of them hurting, physically or psychologically, she had stepped back OSP after Grace had ‘vanished’ 3 years ago, feeling it best to let the younger generation assert control over OSPs day to day running. Sure, she remained in the background, making the final decisions in situations that the new operations managers had never known how to deal with. She had gone through more than 10 supervisors in those 3 years. Some couldn’t handle the secrecy, others not being able to handle the fallout when one of Hetty’s people went rogue and nearly caused international incidents. She had finally had to take a more hands on role to ensure OSPs survival. More than once SECNAV and the director had hinted at shuttering OSPs operations… Hetty had always managed to dissuade them. But it was normally just by the skin of her teeth…

Mike had started groaning, causing Hetty to stop her self analysis.

“Mr Renko?!”

Mike looked about, trying rto focus on where he was… he knew he was somewhere else… the smell, the sounds… the light

“Where am I?”

“Mr Renko. Please focus. Mr Callen found you in quite some state. This has to stop NOW. You either come to your senses voluntarily, or I’ll find a way to return you to the agent you used to be”

Mike was confused. He was sure he had hallucinated Callen. But the words Hetty was using…

“Callen’s gone” He almost spat at the old spy

“I’ll tell you this once, and once only. Ms Callen had a number of duties to which you were unaware…” she began

  
“You had be supervising G. You had her reporting on his activities. You used her… just like you’ve used us all at one time or another. She was just a kid… you had no right to drag her into this life”

“Mr Renko. Please focus. Ms Callen asked to watch over her father. She knew the cost associated with this life… as do we all. If I hadn’t have granted her request you would most likely have been incarcerated for falsifying official reports, bribing NCIS agents to keep a lid on her actions…”  
  


“Beale deserved what he got… he ruined Grace’s life. Do you even know what him and Nell allowed to happen to her. Did you know that she was molested by one of his fucking cronies… You let Nell and Beale abscond with her. You’re responsible for what happened to her and G…”

“Mr Renko, ENOUGH” she shouted at the top of her voice, not caring about the other residents in the nearby rooms “Ms Callen left a final instruction for us all… an instruction I’ve accepted. Mr Callen is, as of this morning, your supervising SAC. She also left a job for you… one I sincerely hope you’ll follow”

Mike was shell shocked. He knew Grace had given her life up, so she could take care of Callen in his less than perfect condition. But she must have had quite some pull to convince Hetty to ‘reprogram’ Callen back to himself. After what had happened with Kristina, Hetty had sworn to never allow the program be used again. But to hear Hetty tell him that Grace had convinced her to use the it… he didn’t know how to respond

  
“She wishes for you to watch over Mr Callen, and Ms Jones… she appreciated everything you and Ms Jones did for her, after her mothers trial. If you refuse,… well, there’s nothing I can do to make you. But she gave up an awful lot… and it has left a debt for us to pay” Hetty just about managed to get out, struggling to hold back tears. She had never been a particularly outwardly emotional woman. But whatever was going on behind her normal emotionless façade, was enough to convince Him

………………………………….

**3 Week Later**

“I’ll be home late” Mike called out as he grabbed his keys from the bowl

  
“Mike, I know… go to your AA meeting. Jake has Karate tonight anyway… I’ll pick up dinner on the way home”

………………………………….

** 3000 Miles away **

Kristina was watching something on the TV… she hadn’t been paying any attention to what was on. It was just on for noise and to give her a break from the FBI agents that had been watching every move she had made for the last 18 months.

She had been inspected, interrogated and, more than once, waterboarded. The reasons for her not being locked up in a cell at GITMO escaped her… she had often regretted her actions… handing intel back to the FSB about the program used to create perfect sleeper agents by the USA. More than once she had tried to tell ‘Rob’ about her past, tried to tell him that she wasn’t who he thought she was. And everytime she opened her mouth to start explaining… he said or did something to dissuade her. She feared losing him more than she feared the FSB or GRU.

She was about ready to switch the TV off for the night and go to sleep, when she heard gun shots. Initially she thought it was just the TV in the other room. But when she heard that second shot… she knew this was happening. They were finally coming for her… they were going to kill her. She knew they would try and terminate her before risking any of their intel getting into American hands, but now it was really happening.

She desperately start looking about the room for any way to escape, anything she could use to defend herself… hell, kill herself before they got their hands on her. There were two heavy thuds and then the shots stopped. She started clambering up the walls, trying to open the windows… IF she got them open, she knew the next issue would be the bars on the outside… but she swore she would deal with that problem when and IF she got the windows open.

The door was thrown open, she dropped to her knees and started pleading, begging with whoever it was standing there dressed all in black

“I’m not here to hurt you!”

………………………………….

“She’s on the jet now… She’ll be safe from the feds and from Russia in a few hours. How did you convince Andrea to go with her…She never struck me as the type?” Grace asked over the phone while flipping through the intel packet that had been sitting on her coffee table.

“She knows the cost of freedom. She, like yourself, like your father… is someone who gave everything up for a greater cause”

“How many of us do you have?” She asked while skimming the report

“As many as are needed” Hetty replied cryptically “Have you decided where you want to go now?”

“I was giving that some thought…” she absentmindedly added, while focusing on a picture “Dad’s diary mentioned his time as an agent afloat…” Grace continued, expecting her gran to reject the request

“… I believe I know just the ship…” Hetty replied “perhaps one you’ve been onboard before”


	3. Chapter 3

#3

“…Keep me briefed”

Mike was watching, wondering how this had all happened.

A few weeks ago Callen was some random walking about a town in Northern California, with no clue about his name and history. Now here he was managing the OSP LA office, like almost nothing had happened.

Hetty had given Mike a basic brief about Callen’s return, but had neglected to give him specifics at the time. She had assured him that the team would be fully briefed in the next few hours.

“Yeah, Sure Izzy… let me know when you’re in town” and he put the phone down and leaned back in his chair

“Didn’t know you were you were due back today, brother” He called across the central chamber of the Mission.

Mike was sure glad that Hetty had convinced HQ to rebuild the Mission after the bombing. The building they had been forced to operate out of was a bit too ‘FBI’… cold and lacked anything covert. Had taken a few years… but as far as Mike was concerned it was worth every damn cent

He strode over to what used to be Hetty’s office.

Hetty was rarely on site much these days, hadn’t been since Callen had been set free with his mind all but wiped clean. But whenever she did visit… there was a different energy, The old building felt like home.

“Yeah. Not meant to… but you know better than any of us what it’s like climbing the walls at home”

“Yeah, well given how you looked a few weeks back… I’m surprised you’re up and about so soon” Callen replied, before pausing to look around and see who could hear them “Seriously. You okay…? The agency don’t know about the state you were in. I hate to remind you… but your continued employment is conditional on your attending regular AA sessions”

“Yeah, I know” mike replied, clearly frustrated at being reminded of the state he had got into

………………………………….

“Mr Callen has broad control of all operations out of the Los Angeles office. He reports directly to me.”

“We know, Hetty. But **How** is he here…?” Kensi asked, actually saying the words they had all been thinking

“Mr Callen is as he was, with the exception of having no memories of the last 20 years. As far as he is concerned he was undercover, before being in a medically induced coma due to injury. I know you will all be glad to have him back… but You must ensure you never mention Ms Callen or his relationship with Ms Jones”

“You want us to just pretend Grace never existed?” Sam asked, bothered by what they were being asked to do

“Ms Callen will always be near and dear to us. However, Mr Callen can not know about her… under any circumstances. Am I understood?”

They all moaned and grumbled quietly

“How are we meant to keep her a secret. Every agent in this office knows about her shooting Eric… You can’t expect every agent to pretend she never existed” Deeks stated, finally breaking the near silence of what felt like the last 10 minutes

“As far as Mr Callen is concerned, Ms Jones, Mr Beale and Ms Callen were all agents in an operation. As far as the other agents in this office are concerned, as far as the rest of the agency is concerned, she was an asset in a long term operation. She was not his actual daughter”

“I’m not going to lie to him” Mike stated, “You can’t make me”

“You are indeed correct, Michael….”

Mike hated when she called him by his formal name, it was never ended well

“…however should you decide not to comply. You will be posted far from this office. You will not make contact with anyone from this office for as long as I hold breath in my body”

………………………………….

** 2 Years Later **

“Agent Smith?”

Grace looked up from her tablet. She had been enjoying reading through case reports from her dads early operations with the agency. It helped her still feel connected to him, to her former life. She thought back to those 3 years she had spent with Vic.

“yeah?”

“I was wondering if I could talk to you , ma’am”

“Here?, now?” she replied, feeling slightly irritated.

“I promise, I wouldn’t bother you normally”

“Right., Pop by the office in 15 minutes” Grace replied hiding her frustration

………………………………….

“What can I help you with, Petty Officer?” Grace asked, closing the cabin door behind the young sailor

“I’ve attracted some unwanted attention from someone I work with. I was hoping you could help”

“Define ‘unwanted attention’…?”

“He’s always playing with my hair, rubbing up against me…” Grace could hear the young woman starting get quiet and withdrawn “..He’s made a few comments”

Grace flashed back to those years on the run, being dragged about with Eric and her mom. The unwanted attention she had received from one of Eric’s cronies. She hadn’t even turned 16 and she was being touched and he had whispered things into her ear

“em…” Grace began, being dragged from her thoughts by the young sailor touching her arm “..Yeah. I think there’s something I can do”

………………………………….

**9 Months Later**

Mike had been grudgingly been making a dent in his ‘to do’ pile. He never would have thought that Callen would be such a stickler for paperwork. At times it was like his buddy had had a personality transplant… but then Mike remembered that he actually had. He wasn’t the same man he was.. he had lived a different life. Or atleast Callen thought he had.

His phone rang, and he was glad of the distraction Looking down at the name flashing up

He answered the phone and lifted it to his ear

“Hey Vic. What can I do for you?”

It had been some time since he had spoken to Vic. He felt guilty… mind you , he always felt guilty when it came to Grace’s girlfriend. After all, he was the reason she had had to return to the apartment she shared with her girlfriend to find Grace’s body being carried out on a stretcher, and a pool of her blood in the lounge

[…]

“Yeah. Okay. Do you want to come to me, or should I come to you?”

[…]

“Yeah. Give me a few hours… I’ll hit the road right now”

Mike ended the call, stood up grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair and headed towards the motorpool

“Hey, Mike… where you going?” Sam asked walking the opposite direction

“Family emergency!” Mike called back, not bothering to even turn round

………………………………….

4 hours later

Mike honestly had no idea how he hadn’t attracted the attention of the CHP with the speeds he had been driving at. But he had made it there in one piece.

  
He pulled over and switched the engine off. Getting out he looked at where he was. He had never wanted to be back here, but he had promised to help Grace’s girlfriend in anyway he could. This was the first time he had been here since the day he heard the gunshot… the day when everything changed for him

Vic was standing in the doorway, she knew what Mike was thinking. they had kept in touch after… well, after what happened. “Thanks for coming… I shouldn’t have bothered you, but I have no idea what to do”

“Okay? Want to tell me what’s happening”

Vic grabbed Mike by the arm and dragged him behind her, up to the apartment

“I Came home after work and found it here”

“Found what?” Mike asked, not following what Vic had meant

“It’s in the lounge”

Mike froze. He knew he was going to have to deal with this eventually… he knew he would have to go in that room. That room where she… ‘no. not gonna do this again’ he silently told himself

Vic grabbed him tighter and pulled him behind her… she knew this would be tough for him. But she hadn’t known who else to call

Finally reaching the lounge, Mike realised what it was…

“I came home from work and it was just laying there. The alarm didn’t go off… The landlord would have told me. After… well, after Grace… I had a security system installed. If it goes off the whole street would know.”

“You’re sure no one’s been in here!?”

“Obviously someone has been in here.!” She replied sarcastically “I have cameras… but not one of them caught anyone coming or going”

Mike walked over to the couch and sat down,   
  


“No ex boyfriends or… well, girlfriends?” He asked, before realising who he was talking to

“Mike. No ex boyfriends, no ex girlfriends. No one has been here” Mike felt stupid asking. Vic had been honest in their emails about her inability to move on from Grace. She hadn’t been on a date since. Mike could understand that… however he couldn’t work out why she would stay in an apartment where Grace had died

“I can’t handle this, Mike. Not after… I just can’t handle this. You have to take it…”

Mike looked at the young woman, trying to work out what she was thinking. Then he looked down at the baby rolling about on the floor


	4. Chapter 4

#4

“I’m serious Mike. I need that gone. I don’t care what you do with it…. I just can’t have it here” Vic stated, sounding like she was about to have a panic attack

“Okay… I need you to take a deep breath. Count to 10 then let it go…”

“Don’t start that. I can’t handle this…. Just please. **Please** take it and go”

“okay, I’ll go. Was it… Was she just laying there, or was she in a carrier or something?” Mike asked, never looking away from the baby girl

………………………………….

“Where’s Mike…?” Callen called, not bothering who was around

OSP had recently had an influx of new agents and support personnel…. Many of them fresh out of FLETC

Callen started searching the building. It was a Wednesday night, so he should have finished early to attend his AA meeting. Although he normally made a point to let Callen know that he was leaving.

Callen noted the strong smell of burnt coffee as he passed the breakroom. There had been more than a few whispers to be heard since he returned to OSP. But he had no idea why. There were a few things he had noticed since he return, things that no one had tried to explain… he recognised that a few absences. Last thing he could remember from before waking up in the clinic was being hit from behind. After that… he was drawing a blank. He knew he was missing something… something that should be there, wasn’t. No one had felt willing to explain what had happened to Eric or Nell

.

…………………………………. 

Mike had managed to move the baby out to the car without setting her off. Vic hadn’t been willing to even discuss the matter, all she wanted was for the baby to be gone from her bubble. Mike couldn’t blame her. She was only in her early 20s and she had dealt with far more than most young women her age had ever had to.

He quickly pulled into the local shopping precinct and, after grabbing the child, rushed into the only place that looked like it would stock a car seat.

Having quickly grabbed the only one in stock, Cost him a bomb, but had no choice since it was against the law to drive a car with a baby not in a car seat. Mike spent longer than he was willing to admit trying to secure the seat in the car.

…………………………………

4 hours later Mike was back in LA, he still had no idea how to explain this to Sydney. He pulled into one of the parking spaces outside the morgue. He needed to try and find out who’s child he now had in his possession. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing Rose… he had been ghosting her for some time after demolishing her autopsy room.

“You have a lot of nerve showing up here, Mike… Do you know how much it cost to get my autopsy room rebuilt, huh?”

“Sorry Rose, I really am sorry… I just…” Mike started, trying to find the words to explain to Rose why he had demolished her autopsy room

“I know, Mike… I know it was a bad time. I know I’ve not said this to you… but I’m sorry about Grace”

“Yeah, well…” Mike said shrugging off the situation, hoping to not be dragged back inside him memories of that day “Look I… I need a favour”

Rose stared back at Mike suspiciously “I’m not giving you a body. Last time I did that I almost lost my job”

  
Mike half chuckled “Nothing like that. Grace’s girlfriend…there was a baby left in her apartment. I was hoping maybe you could run the kids DNA, see if we can find out who the parent is”

Rose could see this was important to Mike, although she had a few questions about why he had come to her instead of sending a sample off to an NCIS lab

…………………………………

Rose had eventually agreed to do the test, but warned Mike that it would be a few days till she would get the results back.

Mike left Rose and tried to decide where to go… it was too late to go to his AA meeting, and even if it wasn’t… ho wcould he explain why he had a baby with him. He worried what Syd would think… but after everything over the last few years, he couldn’t risk trying to keep any more secrets.

Mike grabbed the car seat a,d locked the car once they were outside… reaching the door he could see the lights were still on, so most likely Sydney was still up.

He pulled his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, pushing it open as he did. “Hey, Syd… You here?” he called out, hoping beyond all hope that she was asleep on the couch

“Hey hun… we’re in here” She called out from the lounge

Mike sat the baby seat down just inside the door and walked off in the direction of the lounge.

Sydney was sitting on the main couch while jake was sprawled out on the shorter 2 seat sofa.Mike walked up behind the couch and leaned down to place a soft kiss on top of Sydney’s hesd.   
“I have something I need to speak to you about” he whispered, so Jake couldn’t hear. “Come out into the hall”

…………………………………

“Why do you have a baby?” Sydney asked quietly, still trying not to disturb jake

“I promise you she’s not mine. I got a call from Vic this afternoon. She was in a state and asked me to go up to see her. Said it was serious”

“Uh huh/” Sydney wondered aloud quietly, waiting for the other penny to drop. She had been looking at the baby, not wanting to disturb her

“I got up there and she took me inside and there she was. She couldn’t deal with it… I don’t think she’s bean dealing with everything since Grace all too well”

“You’ve not been dealing with it too well yourself. Though. Did you not tell her that”

Mike felt guilty as all sin. He wasn’t lying about what had happened, but there were a few things about his past he hadn’t told Sydney. But he had the feeling that bringing another child into their lives was perhaps a step too far for her.

“You’re right, I’ve not… I’m not going to pretend I have. But Honestly… Vic wasn’t handling things well. If I wasn’t there, she would probably had abandoned the kid outside the fire station. We atleast have the possibility to find out whose kid she is.. I don’t think the local PD up there would stand a chance”

…………………………………

Things for the next few days were **very** tense. Sydney was far from happy at the prospect of having to care for some strangers baby. It wasn’t the issue of having a baby in the house again… it was because there was just so much other stuff they were dealing with at the moment, before adding into Mike’s habit of getting too engrossed in the problems of others.

Mike had received a message from Rose late on in the evening, with news about the DNA test. Mike of course rushed over to the morgue.

“So, what’ve you got for me?”

“And a good evening to you too Mike. Lovely weather we’re having” Rose replied with something of a sarcastic bite

  
“Sorry, Rose. Thanks for messaging me.”

“Okay, look I don’t know if something is messed up with your system or whatever, but there were 3x separate DNA tags came back. A Petty officer O’Donnel, an NCIS agent Smith and…” Rose didn’t know how to say this, she knew it would floor Mike…. But he came to her with this because he trusted her, and she wasn’t going to lie to him… she had been through too much with OSP in Los Angeles to start keeping things to herself

“Who else?” Mike asked expectantly almost literally on the edge of his seat in Rose’s office

It was at this point that Mike noticed all the pictures in the office… all Rose by herself. No one else with her in any of them. He immediately understood why she was always, almost, happy to get dragged into whatever OSP had going on. Initially it had just been because of her apparent attraction to Nate, but even after he took off on whatever secret operations that Hetty had encouraged him to take on.

What Rose said next floored him.

“… the other DNA flagged up is flagged as Grace” Rose eventually added, worrying about how Mike would react “I promise you. I ran the test 5 times to be sure… it’s definitely Grace”

…………………………………

Mike had thanked Rose, grabbed the print out and jumped in his car… he didn’t even need to think once about where to go. He knew exactly who could give him some answers. The problem was more to do with the where than the who. Mike spent the next few hours driving across all of LA county, between each property he knew Hetty owned.

  
Having checked at more than a dozen houses, he decided to check at the harbour. He could recall Hetty having owned a boat at one time… but that had been years ago. He was sure someone mentioned her having sold it. But he had no other options, save for calling it quits for the night.

…………………………………

Mike arrived at the marina and somehow managed to blag his way past security by mentioning Hetty and flashing his badge. Apparently he hadn’t been the only one looking for Hetty tonight.

  
Following the directions given to him by security, Mike walked along the dock noting the numerous extravagant yachts, each seemingly larger than the previous one. Reaching his destination, Mike noticed a red stain on the edge of the yacht.

His training kicked in and he reach back and pulled out his SIG and jumped aboard the boat, heading for the cabin,

He opened the door and found Hetty at the bottom of the few steps covered in blood, with a woman Mike had never seen before.

“We need to get her to the hospital!”


	5. Chapter 5

#5

Mike had grabbed Hetty and run for the parking lot, so quick that the other woman was several steps behind, not having expected Mike to have grabbed Hetty as quickly as he had.

She had heard the stories about the agents working for OSP in Los Angeles. But had always assumed they were just that, stories.

Andrea had only been there to report in, having been advised not to use any NCIS procedures, official or otherwise.

She had been aboard the yacht when Hetty had stumbled down the few short steps into the cabin. She reacted by asking a load of questions, but failing to do something, being so shocked with seeing Hetty with a gaping chest wound.

  
“We can’t take her to a hospital. You know that… too many questions that we can’t answer…” Andrea offered as she watched Mike place Hetty in the back seat of his car

“What do you want me to do… just leave her on the sidewalk to bleed to death” Mike replied curtly,

“What do you do when you get injured on the job?. You know we can’t report this…” Andrea started, before being cut off by Mike

“I have an idea. Get in… NOW”

…………………………………

Mike had slammed the brakes on and had the car door open before the car came to a full stop. Andrea had fired off a pair of quick flash messages in the car, and glanced down at the blood on her own hands.

“You coming!” Mike practically shouted, with no regard for where he was or who could hear him shouting

He grabbed Hetty from the rear seat and made for the service entrance to the morgue

Once he was inside, with Andrea but a few steps behind, he kicked open the door to Rose’s autopsy room and laid Hetty down. She had been unusually quiet on the drive to the morgue…. Mike had been expecting some sort of orders to the thrown at him. But even if she had tried, he wasn’t in the mood to listen to any…

“Rose?” he Called out, before looking out the window to see if her car was still there… it was “Rose…. I could really use your help!”

A few moments later in rushed Rose… 

  
“Mike, what’s the emergenc…” Rose began before stopping mid sentence when she saw Hetty on the tabletop

“Rose. .. I really **NEED** you to help me here!” Mike encouraged, placing emphasis on the word ‘need’

Mike stepped back from the table before Rose even had a chance to ask him to Give her some room

“Don’t... I need you to keep pressing right there!” Rose instructed, grabbing Mike’s hand and pushing it down on Hetty’s torso, while she rushed over to her filing cabinet to pull out her medical kit

…………………………………

“She’s down… Doesn’t look good, G” Andrea said over the phone, as she peeked inside the autopsy room, trying to avoid Mike’s glare

[…]

“What am I meant to do… this isn’t what I was trained for!”

[…]

…………………………………

“What’s happened?” Grace groaned into the phone as she rolled out of her bunk

[…]

“I know it’s not. I need you to keep calm. Take a breath… try and stay calm, Andrea. Okay. Who’re you with?”

[…]

“Do whatever he asks… I’ll be there as soon as I can,… You can’t **let** her die… the job’s not finished” Grace instructed, before groaning in discomfort

…………………………………

Somehow Rose had managed to stabilise Hetty… for a while. But she urged Mike to get an actual doctor to look her over

Mike agreed, but he had something that had to be done first

“Who are you…” He began, before grabbing Andrea and Grabbing her, pulling her into the room “What were you doing on Hetty’s boat, and who did you phone…” He continued sounding far less friendly that Andrea had heard

“I’m an NCIS agent. That’s all you **need** to know”

“Yeah… Well we’ll see about that. Hetty dies tonight… you’re going to fry for it” threatened Mike

…………………………………

“Brother, could use your help…”

[…]

“Yeah. Better Tell, G and the rest of the team. If this goes sideways… may not have another chance to say bye”

Mike cut the call off and slipped the phone back into his trouser pocket. He felt like he had been dragged through a cactus patch in the last few hours

“I’m not going to die Michael…not yet by any stretch of the imagination. You can cancel the call for the others to come running” Hetty spoke softly

Mike was shocked. The amount of Hetty’s blood soaking into the back seat of his car seriously had him thinking this was the end for her

“Who shot you?”

“ah. Straight to business I see. I assume you have other questions… you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t”

Mike didn’t know where to start… first off he wanted to scream at her, demand answers about why the baby he had collected from Vic’s place was being listed as connected to Grace, when she had died several years previous. Demand information about who the young girl he had found by Hetty’s side was.. And yes, he wanted to know who had shot her… probably in that order…

“I don’t know where to start… with you I never do…”

“Andrea is one of us. You can rest easy… she is not the one who shot me”

“Yeah, well I’ll rest easier when I can verify that with someone other than you. You ,… you..” Mike spoke, stuttering at the end before letting out an almighty roar “Nothing with you is ever straight is it… I mean all those ops. Putting Callen, Sam, Kens, Deeks… Grace at risk of death” he continued before letting out a soft sigh “You swore to us that G wasn’t fit to work. You said he was at a specialised facility. You swore you had no idea where Grace was for those 3 years, despite the fact that you had her watching over G from a distance. This was NOT the life he wanted for her. But that wasn’t good enough for you was it… you pushed her through god only knows what sort of training. Just like G… just like Grace Stevens, Lauren Hunter… and Sullivan. We pretend like you’re some sort of almighty angel, saving people from dark situations… but the truth… the truth is you’re the one responsible for putting them all in even darker situations” Mike had started off calm… but the more he said, the angrier he became

“She’s in here!” he heard as he turned to find Andrea and a pair of … what looked like paramedics walking into the autopsy room. Mike got up and walked past the 3 of them

“I’m out of here”

…………………………………

Mike looked round when the passenger door opened “Hey” Sydney said softly

Mike looked confused, but before he could ask how she knew he was here she said one word “Hetty”

“You another one of her pawns?”

Sydney softly punched Mike’s arm

“What’s happened?”

“How much time’ve you got…?! You know I so desperately feel like I **need** a drink”

“The fact that you can admit that says your growing”

“You were right the other day, Syd… I’ve not dealt with losing Grace… I don’t think I ever will…She had so much potential. And because of your sister and G… she repeated their mistakes. She gave up on a normal life… she could’ve been anything. To die from a shooting….in her own home. That wasn’t the life he wanted for her… not the life any of us wanted for her”

“You think I don’t know that. It’s not the sort of life Penny wanted for her… at least, not when she was born. The fact that Grace was willing to sacrifice her own happiness, her own life for the benefit of another. That sounds very noble. Just like the rest of you have done for as long as I’ve known you all”

…………………………………

“Okay. The bullshit stops here… Who the fuck are you?” Mike asked, dragging Andrea into Rose’s office and standing in front of the door, blocking the only exit

“I told you . I’m an agent”

“Okay then. Show me your badge…”

“I don’t answer to you Agent Renko. Never have and I never will”

“Yeah?! Well if you don’t start filling in the blanks, LAPD will come and get you, let you spend the night in a cell. Somehow I doubt Hetty will be making a call for clemency on your behalf… not in her current state anyway”


	6. Chapter 6

#6

“I want her locked up. I don’t care what she says… you don’t let her out of that room” Mike barked instructions at a pair of agents that had shown up with Callen “And have tech do a deep dive on this.. I want to know who she’s been in contact with” he added, as he tossed a cellphone back at one of them, as he walked away

…………………………………

“He’s pissed” Deeks whispered to Kens as Mike strode past “Has he explained why he’s been off the reservation lately?”

“I don’t know what’s going on… but he’s not been himself since Callen’s been back with us”

“Heard something from Susie…” Deeks began, once again confirming that he spent more time gossiping with Susan from HR than almost anyone else in the LA office

“Do you really have nothing better to do than to gossip with her? After everything over the last few years… you really should spend as much time on the range as you do in the break room”

“Come on Kens. Think back … she was the one that knew something had happened between Eric and Nell way back when. We wouldn’t have known otherwise”

Kensi had never let on that she had already known about Eric and Nell’s night together. Even after what had been over 20 years. Kensi had always kept some secrets from Marty, nothing serious about them…but about things she had been told in confidence

…………………………………

“So how is she?” Callen asked when Rose slipped out of her autopsy room

Even with her limited contact with OSP, she had heard the rumours about where he had been for the last few years. The gossip she had heard suggested he had been on some sort of deep cover operation. It was far from the weirdest thing she had heard about him since she first came in contact with OSP….  
  
“If her … What do you guys call them?” She asked, wondering aloud about what to call the pair of guys that showed up with several pints of blood for Hetty within half an hour of her arrival “Paramedics?” She continued, no less confused that she had been when she started “If they hadn’t shown up when they did… she would have been in the right place”

Callen looked back at her more than a bit confused

Rose answered the question that he hadn’t actually asked “She would have needed a morgue”

“Can I see her?”

…………………………………

Callen quietly walked into the autopsy room. No matter how quietly he tried to sneak up on Hetty, she always knew he was coming. For as long as he had known her, she always knew more about him and the team than anyone should have been able to. On more than a few occasions he had swept his phone and house for bugs… it was the only we he figured she could know what she knew. It was only fair to say that she had outlasted most of the other spies of her era. Somehow she had managed to transition from field work to being in charge of the entire clandestine division of NCIS…

  
“I’m not dead. Not yet at least”

  
He hadn’t even made it 5 steps into the room…

“okay, One day you’re going to have to tell me how it is you do that” He replied, giving up on being all stealth, and just walked over to where she was still laying staring at the ceiling

Hetty could be heard to almost silently chuckle

“Who shot you?”

“That isn’t something you need to worry about my boy”

Callen let out a deep sigh, realising that it was going to one of **_those_** conversations

“Okay. Do you want to tell me who your little friend is? Mike’s quite adamant we should hand her over to LAPD”

Hetty didn’t say a word. Hell, she didn’t make a sound…

“She was found over your body, she’s not willing to say anything about why she was on your boat, or how she knows you. Tell me this isn’t another one of your side ops. You swore to me that you’d take a back seat… not to run anything like this without my knowledge”

Hetty was still silent, almost scarily silent. Callen had started to look about for a mirror, or anything he cold hold under her nose to see if she was still breathing

Having spotted something on one of the tables positioned along the wall. He started reaching over to grab hold of the pan, only to be shocked when she broke her own silence

“Andrea didn’t shoot me. I trust her implicitly… As much as I trust you, Mr Callen.” She said, speaking quietly

“So who is she… why was she on your boat”

“I promised to protect her. I taught her to defend herself…”

“That’s **not** a no. No more dancing around about this… Why was she on your boat?”

…………………………………

“We need to move her…”

…………………………………

“What’s wrong with Callen…?”

  
“No idea, man. He not the same. Not since he came back”

“Must’ve been some op to have turned him into a sell out”

“Having fun, Ladies?” Mike asked, having overheard just enough from the pair of agents to have his blood boiling

…………………………………

“ **NO** … I don’t care if you are my boss. She doesn’t come out of there, until I get some answers.”

“Sorry, Brother. This isn’t personal…”

“What did she say… what did that old bitch say to turn you round. You agreed to trust me. What changed in the last 20 minutes that took you from being on my side. to being on hers”

“I told you, mike. This isn’t personal. Don’t make it so”

…………………………………

“See you soon, Agent Renko” Andrea taunted as she left the morgue along with Callen


	7. Chapter 7

#7

48 Hours Later:

“so, why don’t you tell me about how you’ve been handling recent events?”

“Which ones, huh? Getting stabbed in the back by my best friend, losing Gra…” Mike paused to gulp heavily, finding himself unable to so much as say her name these days “…Losing G’s daughter. What is it you WANT me to talk about, Nate?. How about you answer a question… Why are you here, and at who’s behest?”

“No need to be snippy, Mike”

Mike started gripping the arms of the chair tighter and tighter, to the extent that his knuckles were contrasting white against the dark flesh coloured tones of the rest of his hands. “Fuck you. I don’t need this shit. I don’t care if this job IS conditional on these little get togethers” Mike stood up and made moves for the door “I don’t care if it was SECNAV or POTUS that dictated this session. I’m through jumping through hoops for Hetty and her fucking black ops. And yeah… you can tell her I said that”

…………………………………

“You did what?”

“I quit. I’m sick of jumping through her hoops. I’m sick of keeping secrets. I’m sick … I’m just sick of the … mind games” Mike sighed

“Mike… I know that the last few weeks…” Sydney paused, taking on board the very pointed look she was now receiving from Mike “okay… years. But you can’t give up on everything, everyone in your life because of what happened with that girl”

“I love that you need to put a positive spin on everything. But…it’s not just her. It’s everything… the last few years, since G’s been back… I just can’t do it anymore” Mike replied as he got up to grab a bottle of soda from the fridge

“You think this is what Grace would have wanted?” 

Mike froze mid step, of course he had thought about what she would have wanted, but he couldn’t deal with the emotional guilt trip

“I love you Syd, you know that… just, please, don’t… don’t use her memory like that”

…………………………………

“You want to tell me who we’re waiting for?”

“I promise you, Agent Callen… It’ll be worth the wait.”

“I don’t like surprises, Kid. So spill, or I’m sure Mike’ll be more than happy to debrief you”

…………………………………

Mike stormed through the security gate at the marina, leaving 2 security guards gasping for breath.

He wasn’t happy about what he’d had to do. He was through playing games with the old spy. Kensi had called him, Sam had called him… both letting him know that G had been off the grid for over 2 days..

If G was off the grid, the old woman would know where he was, especially since last time anyone saw him he was with that girl… the one connected to Hetty that no one had seen or heard of before, not even a digital record… not a print, drivers license or passport.

But he was playing games….

“Mike” heard being a weak voice call from the direction of Hetty’s boat

…………………………………

Mike carried her to the car and gently placed her in the back of his car, exactly where he had. He had so many questions… but there would be plenty of time for that.

“just hang on. I’m taking you to the hospital”

He was desperate for some answers, and contemplated asking a few as he drove, not that it would help the situation.

…………………………………

Now was the time to call everyone, let them know that she was there, that she wasn’t dead. He knew that Vic should have been his first call… but he found that he needed to know what had happened before he started bringing other people into this little bubble.

Just watching her lay there… it was like when she was a kid, if he could ignore the scars and all the rest. He felt this need to touch her, just to make sure this wasn’t a hallucination. 

“Stop watching me. I’m clearly not going anywhere” Grace said speaking softly “please Mike… don’t tell anyone I’m….”

“what, Alive?” Mike replied slightly annoyed “Do you know what you’ve put us all through… huh?”

Grace rolled over in the hospital bed so she could look at Mike

“I had to be dead… I made a deal with gran. She would get dad back to working with you guys and I’d… I wanted him to be himself again. After what happened with Kristina, he needed you guys. And having him walk about town with no idea of the good he has done… he deserved a second chance”

“I’m not pissed that he’s with us again… even if we have to watch what we say to him. I’m pissed that you didn’t speak to any of us before you did this”

“Mike. Please…I don’t want to talk about it anymore”

“Okay. Well how about you explain the baby… huh. The one I assume you or that kid dropped at Vic’s place”

“I don’t want to talk about it”

“You don’t start giving me answers I’ll have a doctor in here in 30 seconds and have you held on a 72 hour psych hold. Don’t think I won’t”

“yes I had Andrea leave her at Vic’s . Too many people there knew me there. I couldn’t risk it”

“how did you wind up having a baby. I thought you were gay”

“I don’t want to talk about it”

Mike could see her clamming up and turning away from him. “Syd has the kid… She’s doing fine. But eventually we’re gonna need to talk about this… you can’t bury your head in the sand”

He stopped taking when a nurse came in to injected something into Grace’s canula and then left the pair

“How did you have a kid” He asked again, despite Grace getting groggier from whatever she’d been injected with Eventually she dropped off into sleep still not giving any answers.

Mike thought back to what Rose had told him all those weeks ago… about that baby’s paternity

…………………………………

Mike pulled out his Cell, he knew he shouldn’t use it in the hospital, but this couldn’t wait.

He dialled a number and waited as the phone rang and rang

“Syd. Can you meet me at the hospital?”

[…]

“No I’m fine. But I need you to watch someone for me”

[…]

“I’ll text you the address, but hurry please”

…………………………………

30 minutes later

“Who’s so urgent you needed me to leave Jake with the Beales?”

“She’s in there” mike replied, starting to question if this had been a good idea

He guided Syd into the room, forgetting briefly about the stroller, which he went back for and pushed into the room along with Sydney

“She’s out of it. And she’s not in a good way physically. The doc says she has plenty of scar tissue….. she won’t talk about it, or the baby. Only thing she’s said is what her deal with Hetty was…Can you watch her for a day or so. I need to make a short trip. If you need to… call Kens or Sam. But G can’t know”

…………………………………

Mike had driven at high speed, managing to reach san diego navel base in less than an hour. There was a sailor he needed to talk with…

He flashed his NCIS credentials to the security guard and drove straight down to the piers. He had to get this done.. and the sooner the better, for his own sanity.

He pulled over and jumped out of the car and ran up the gang plank and on board the carrier. Mike had dug deep into the records after Rose did the DNA test on the child… he was intimately familiar with the male donor’s record. But this… no, there was no way he could, or would, allow this to go unpunished.

…………………………………

This was not a good idea. Mike knew it. Letting his emotions take control… but he knew no other way of dealing with this…. It either ended in a prison cell, or at the bottom of a bottle. Either way… the end of Agent Michael Renko, and the end of him and Syd. G couldn’t do this… god only knew where he was, but he… back when he was the ‘real’ G Callen… he would’ve burned anything and everything... every one, that stood between him and the one that hurt Grace. Mike, Sam, Kens… even Deeks… Grace was family to them. She was like a daughter to Mike after … well, everything.

“Where’s O’Donnel?” Mike almost growled while tightly gripping his SIG. 

…………………………………

Mike was seething, ready to kill anyone who stood in his way. He had heard the whispers as he walked the halls of the aircraft carrier, he would have too if he saw a civilian waling the halls with his handgun. Mike had answered too many questions, and knew the smell of a cover up. No way it could have happened and no one on board knew, saw or heard anything

“lieutenant O’Donnel? I’m Special Agent Mike Renko… NCIS. I have a few questions for you regarding the sexual assault of an NCIS Special Agent.”

“no way. Go fuck yourself. You can’t come in here and tell me what to do”

“There’re 2 ways we can do this…”

“Is one of them the easy way” the lieutenant replied sarcastically, refusing to even glance in Mikes direction

“No. The easy way is cuffs, Scum like you don’t get an easy way… you remember special agent smith. We have evidence… but you don’t care about that do you!? Neither do I… what I care about is my family. And you hurt one of mine. You will pay for it… I don’t care if I get the death penalty for this”

“For what? Fucking some girl who was gagging for it”

Mikes blood had already been boiling since he left LA… he didn’t want to arrest or prosecute O’Donnell. Mike wanted to kill him, but that was too good for him. There were other ways, but he knew if he further committed himself to this path, that it only ended one way… 

Mike lifted his arm, tightening his grip on the SIG pistol.

All that could be hear were multiple gun shots and the sound of something thudding against the bulkheads, before some screaming and Mike walked out of the compartment dragging the bloody mess of a naval lieutenant behind him, screaming for help… any help.  
There were plenty of looks as Mike passed by the various compartments. To be fair something would be wrong if there weren’t looks. Mike had beaten the lieutenant to within an inch of his life, shot him… more than one, most noticeably in his ear, leaving little in the way of the original organ. Mike didn’t have a mark on him… his ‘victim’ however was screaming in pain, begging for someone… anyone to help him, to get the crazy special agent away from him.

Mike had no intention of letting anyone get in his way… if it required it, Mike would shoot anyone and everyone that got in his way. And when he ran out of rounds, he’d get really nasty and resort to some tricks he learned with G when they were seconded to Mossad for a period in the late 90s. He had no desire to hurt anyone but the guy he currently was taking great pleasure in causing intense pain, but when it came to family, he’d do the same thing that G would have done way back when, the same thing Sam did to Sidorov.

The question that Syd would ask, was whether the force he had used was required. Honestly…. Was it necessary? no. Did it feel good inflicting harm on the guy that hurt Grace?, damn fucking right it did. And Mike had a lot more to inflict on him, and that’s the thing that was driving him… causing O’Connell as much pain as he could… and if Mike could prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he had Raped Grace… Mike would cut him till the lieutenant didn’t have a drop of blood left in his body, and his heart had beat its last.


	8. Chapter 8

#8

“I don’t want to know where you’ve been. Just Why…. Why could you not tell us.”  
  


“What I agreed with Gran, or why I didn’t tell you I’m gay?. You know Mike… he knew, and didn’t expect anything from me… didn’t hound me to meet a guy” Grace tried to explain, finding herself quite angry, despite being weak from everything over the last few years. There had been so many times she had started dialling the phone to call Mike… to call any and all of them… but she told herself it was in their best interest not to expose them to everything. She had spent the last few years doing deep undercover work, embedding in private militia groups and recovering imprisoned assets… and relocating a few prisoners of the FBI and CIA. It had started as a trade off for her dad’s wellbeing, and reintegration into a normal life. But when it came to kicking ass and showing up sister agencies failings… she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Hetty had long ago given up on recruiting and training new deep cover or non agency related assets. Grace had a wide remit… far reaching authority and a larger budget than many undercover operations. Every now and again she’d report into her gran. But most of the time… she could do whatever she felt was in the best interests of the Office of Special Projects, the country … and ultimately, her family. She had always had one of her people watching over Mike and co, even gran and Vic… she felt she had a remit to protect them from the darker parts of the world… and because she did this without Hetty knowing, she didn’t have to explain the reasons for what she did.

Andrea had become her closest confidant… but the young woman hadn’t the heart to deal with some of the stuff Grace sought to manage. She had spent most of the last few years on surveillance ops… personal protection for some of Grace’s relocated citizens. Highest priority had always been Kristina. Grace couldn’t forgive her for what she had done to her dad… but Grace… she couldn’t leave her under the control of the FBI. So she had relocated her to a remote island in the south Atlantic. She would never again be able to harm anyone, she was always under VERY close surveillance, whether she knew it or not.

“You want to know why I didn’t choose to tell you I was gay, I didn’t tell you because you’re just like mum… you don’t want to know these things, You have this little plan for how everything and everyone should be. She wouldn’t accept that i was telling the truth about Eric’s lackies. She preferred to focus on hiding me away, keeping me from the real world. You couldn’t see… or maybe you simply didn’t want to see that I had no interest in boys. Why do you think I didn’t visit… Vic, she opened my eyes to my true self”

“You honestly think I wouldn’t accept you because you’re not straight?! I wouldn’t have cared. I don’t care. I…I just want you to be happy and healthy”

“Well, you won’t have to worry about me for long. I have stage 3 breast cancer. And I’m not going to last forever.”

Syd didn’t know how to respond. A few hours ago everything was right with the world… well, her sister may still be in maximum security. But aside from that… her niece was alive and well. And now the whole world was crumbling around her.

“You remember my visit to you before I... well, before I died. I needed Mike to get me into see mom. After everything that happened… I couldn’t get treatment. It would have attracted too much unwanted attention. If gran hadn’t been shot… you wouldn’t have found out that I deceived you all”

Syd sat there contemplating everything she was being told. Then something clicked

“Grace… is the baby yours. The kid that Mike brought home, that he got from Victoria… Is that why he won’t let me hand her over to CPS?”

“Yeah. She was mine. She… again, would have drawn unwanted attention to me. I knew you and Mike would take her in. You did with Jake…” Grace explained, almost gasping in discomfort and she gripped her chest “I won’t be here to see her grow up. But I can still protect her”

“Grace, you’re still just a kid,,,”

“I’m an NCIS Special Agent… and my days as a kid ended when I shot Eric” Grace interjected

“Mike has always said that this isn’t the life your dad would want for you”

“No?, I didn’t have a typical childhood. I was exposed to things that I shouldn’t have been…”

…………………………………

“Drop your weapon!”

“Not doing it. You don’t know what this little shit has done… He raped an NCIS Special Agent… on **your** ship, under **your** watch. You better hope I don’t see you again… or you’ll be sharing a cell with whatever remains of Mr O’Donnell. You understand what I’m saying!?” Mike almost screamed at the Captain, who had, wisely, chosen to hide behind a pair of armed marines, as Mike dragged the lieutenant down the hall past the captains quarters, intentionally banging O’Donnell’s head against anything he could.

“If you’re **very** lucky, I’ll not do to you, what I’m going to do to Mr O’Donnell… Run and hide asshole”


	9. Chapter 9

#9

** 3 Weeks Later **

“Where’s G?” Sam asked, visibly stressed

“I don’t know. He has to be here” Kens replied as she glanced over her shoulder at the entrance to the court room

“All Rise” Called the bailiff, as the judged walked into the court from a side room

“shit” Sam said just under his breath

…………………………………

“Would you care to challenge the accusations levelled at you, Special Agent Renko?”

“I used appropriate force in the apprehension of the rapist of an NCIS Special Agent” Mike replied, almost as if he wasn’t bothered about the ramifications of his actions

“Special Agent Renko. I hardly consider shooting and beating an unarmed sailor to be an appropriate use of force… Not even if the person on the receiving end of your ‘appropriate force’ has raped a federal agent. Do you have anything to say?”

“yeah…”

…………………………………

“Where are they moving him to?”

Hetty sat still looking down at the empty glass she was holding

“Gran!? **Where** are they taking Mike?. I know what he did was wrong…”

…………………………………

“Been a long time… You’ve grown”

“Can we just get this over with”

“Do you know who I am?”

“I’m fully briefed on all OSP agents….and shrinks”

“Take a seat and we can get started”

“Let’s not get started… let’s just finish. You think I don’t see your strings. Mike always said that gran was in someway pulling the strings of almost everyone working for the agency in Los Angeles. I used to think it was just Mike being paranoid”

“Please… Sit down”

“I’ve been in a fucking hospital bed for the last 4 weeks. Last thing I want to do is sit… or lay… or lounge…”

“Please Grace, sit down… You know why you’re here. I don’t think you want to make this last any longer than it has to…”

“You **want** me to sit down because you want to be in control… But you and I both know you **don’t** hold any power over me. Gran doesn’t have **any** actual power over me. And she knows that”

“So why **are** you here?”

…………………………………

** Several Minutes Later **

“So you can tell Gran that I complied. Now where is Mike?!” Grace all but growlled

…………………………………

Grace was in the armoury, filling bags with gear. Most of the gear was just anything that was within reach… if she was being impartial, being sensible… she wouldn’t be grabbing just anything.

She sensed someone entering the armoury. She knew who she was expecting.

“What do you want Gran? You’re not gonna stop me” Grace said, not even turning away from her ‘shopping spree’

“I know, my dear. You remind me so much of your father. The number of times I stood in exactly the same space, watching him gather supplies. He always thought he was doing the best for the rest of us…”

Grace paused, instead she pressed her palms against the bench, needing to focus on not saying something she’d regret

“…When your mother brought you back… Mr Callen left us. I long ago chose to forgo keeping count of how many times he would run off on one of his crusades in an superfluous attempt to protect us all. I regret a great many things with regard to Mr Callen… But more than anything, I regret…”

…………………………………

“You sure about this, G?” Andrea asked as she watched Grace pull on her tactical vest, wondering whether Grace knew what she was doing

Grace ignored the question, instead asking a question of her own “Where’s the rest of the team?”

“G!? the boss wants us to stand down”

Grace attached her holster to her leg, not even bothering to look over at Andrea “Andrea… Who is your SAC? Who trained you?”

“You did” Andrea replied almost as if she were asking a question

“I know this isn’t the part of the job that you like…But Whatever you think of Agent Renko, he’s one of the good guys. I wouldn’t be standing here if he hadn’t done his job way back when. This is your job now… I’m not gonna be here forever, this is why I’ve been grooming you to take over when I’m gone. Our team and my family need you”


	10. Chapter 10

#10

3 Weeks Ago  
“You planning on giving me some answers, ever..?”

“What do you remember from your operation in Ireland?... I’ve been read in. But I know you have questions”

Callen was far from pleased, he appreciated some of his previous operations were more ‘eyes only’ than others… But here was this girl that’d been giving him the run around for the last few months. She would give a few truths, then spout a few questions that had him wondering if she actually had the answers she promised or if she was just being spoon fed information every few days by god only knew who.

“Look kid… Either tell me what you’ve been promising, or get out of my hair before I do something you’ll regret”

“I promise you sir… I am able to answer all the questions about those many months you can’t remember, about why certain members of your team are absent and…”

…………………………………

Today:

Gun shots could be heard throughout OSP. More than a few heads twitched, and a few of the field agents could be seen uncomfortably twitching and reaching for their service weapon.  
Sam rushed to the break room, with Kensi and Deeks following behind trying to calm everyone.

The gun shots continued, and were followed by deep screaming.

“Hey Grace… you need to cool off” Sam said as he rushed into the small room, grabbing her and pulling her close 

Kens and Deeks were only a few steps behind.   
Even in her condition, Kens was as quick as ever…. Sam knew Grace would respond better to Kens. He released Grace and Kens pulled her into a tight embrace, telling Grace things would work out. Sam didn’t know if Kensi actually believed that… or if she was just trying to calm the situation.

Deeks stood back, allowing Kensi to do her thing. As he stood there he took in what was infront of him. The breakroom looked like a bomb had hit it. The vending machines… were bust open. The contents were strewn all over the room. Cans were bashed and more than a few were spraying their contents. Deeks recognised that Grace was hurting… they all were. When Grace reached the prison transport, it was over on its side, and was burning… no one survived it. Andrea had vanished into thin air… but that was what Grace had trained her to do.

Grace pushed Kensi back… not hard enough to harm her, or the baby… but just enough to make her point. It wasn’t just that Mike was missing, or dead… the last week had been rough. Mike, Andrea, Callen missing… and Hetty having died in her office infront of Grace… that may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Grace had personally escorted Hetty’s body to the morgue, then to the centre for cremation. Never letting her Gran out of her sight. Waiting to see if she would wake up… waiting to see if this was one of her Grans fake outs. But this was for real… this was the end of Hetty’s story.

…………………………………

“Who do you answer to?”

Grace had been asked that so many times… Hetty may not have been her biological Gran. But the old spy had invested in the young woman. She had set Grace up so she could do whatever needed to be done.

…………………………………

Grace wished she felt anywhere near as confident as she appeared to be. She could run circles round any of these politicians from DC… Talk a good game, but was she up to actually run things without back up. Hetty was gone… 

“What did SECNAV want?” 

Ah… there it was. Whispers, people asking questions she wasn’t totally sure how to answer. Maybe the truth was best

Grace pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, trying to steady herself

“She wanted to know who I was, what authority I have to make decisions about the running of this office”

Kensi, Sam and Deeks looked around the room, at each other and at Grace. 

She could see the doubt and concerns in their eyes

“Gran left standing instructions… that if anything were to happen to her, that I was to…” she stuttered before pausing to ready herself


End file.
